Personal pronouns replace nouns and make speech flow — I, you, he, she, and so on. The base forms are easy. The one thing that surprises learners is a small spelling change: third-person pronouns sometimes pick up an extra «н». Let's clear that up.
1. The pronouns (nominative)
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| я | I |
| ты | you (informal, singular) |
| он | he / it (masc.) |
| она | she / it (fem.) |
| оно | it (neuter) |
| мы | we |
| вы | you (formal or plural) |
| они | they |
Like nouns, pronouns change in all six cases. That is where the «н» comes in.
2. Every case at a glance
The third-person forms below carry a parenthesised (н) — read on for exactly when it appears.
| Case | я | ты | он / оно | она | мы | вы | они |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | я | ты | он / оно | она | мы | вы | они |
| Genitive | меня | тебя | (н)его | (н)её | нас | вас | (н)их |
| Dative | мне | тебе | (н)ему | (н)ей | нам | вам | (н)им |
| Accusative | меня | тебя | (н)его | (н)её | нас | вас | (н)их |
| Instrumental | мной | тобой | (н)им | (н)ей | нами | вами | (н)ими |
| Prepositional | мне | тебе | нём | ней | нас | вас | них |
These same forms show up across the cases: меня / тебя / его are the accusative of я / ты / он, the (н)его / (н)её forms are the genitive, and о нём / о ней / о них are the prepositional. The prepositional always travels with a preposition, so its third-person forms always carry the н (о нём, о ней, о них).
3. The «н» rule
3.1 When the «н» appears
When to add «н»
The third-person pronouns (он, она, оно, они) gain a leading «н» when they come directly after a preposition: у него, с ней, для них, к нему. It is purely for euphony — it makes the words easier to say.
Compare the same pronoun with and without a preposition:
| Without preposition | After a preposition |
|---|---|
| его (him/his) | у него (at his place) |
| её (her) | для неё (for her) |
| ему (to him) | к нему (towards him) |
| ей (to her) | с ней (with her) |
| их (them/their) | без них (without them) |
| им (to them) | к ним (to them) |
So "I'll go with him" is Я пойду с ним, but "I gave him a book" (no preposition) is Я дал ему книгу — no «н». The ему / ей here are dativesoon forms, which appear after verbs like давать with no preposition.
3.2 The exception: derived prepositions
Derived prepositions take no «н»
The «н» is triggered only by the old primary prepositions (у, к, с, о, для, без, от, в, на…). Prepositions that grew out of adverbs or nouns do not add it: благодаря ему (thanks to him), вопреки ей (despite her), согласно им (according to them), навстречу им (towards them), насчёт его (regarding him). The first few here also happen to govern the dative.
3.3 No «н» after a comparative
After a comparative — bigger, older, better — the pronoun is a plain genitive of comparison with no preposition in front of it, so it takes no «н»:
- Он старше его. — He is older than him.
- Я выше её. — I am taller than her.
- Они работают лучше их. — They work better than them.
You may hear лучше неё in casual speech, but the written norm is лучше её, without the «н».
3.4 Common prepositions that govern these forms
у (at/by), с (with), к (to), для (for), в (in), на (on), о (about), от (from), без (without). After any of these, use the н-form.
4. Examples
- Я пойду с ним. — I'll go with him.
- Этот подарок для неё. — This gift is for her.
- У него есть книга. — He has a book.
- Я думаю о них. — I'm thinking about them.
- Она бежала навстречу им. — She ran towards them. (adverb-derived → no «н»)
5. Possessives and reflexives
5.1 Possessive его, её, их and свой
The same его, её, их double as possessives ("his / her / their") — and as possessives they are frozen: they never change for case, gender, or number, and they never take «н».
- его дом, его книга, в его доме — one unchanging form.
- Steer clear of the non-standard евоный / ейный / ихний; the correct possessives are simply его, её, их.
When the owner is the subject of the sentence, Russian prefers the reflexive свой ("one's own"), which does change like an adjective: Он взял свою книгу (his own) vs Он взял его книгу (someone else's). The full set of possessive forms lives in the possessive pronounssoon guide.
5.2 себя and a pronunciation tip
The reflexive себя ("oneself") has no nominative — there is no «я себя» subject form; it lives only in the object cases (себя, себе, собой); it also threads through the reflexive verbssoon. And for speaking: его and него are pronounced with a [v] sound — yivó / nivó — the same as the -ого / -его adjective endings.
6. Common mistakes
Common mistakes
- Adding «н» without a preposition: it is Я вижу его, not него.
- Forgetting «н» after a preposition: it is у неё, not у её.
- Treating благодаря / навстречу like normal prepositions — they take no «н».
- Mixing up case: с ним (with him) vs к нему (towards him).
7. Test yourself
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